Only Forever
by pleasanttrouble
Summary: Having no luck locating Skulduggery's head Valkyrie enlists a friend of Tanith's, a woman who leads them on a mad adventure into the Kingdom of the Goblins- the skull isn't the only thing Uncovered Valduggery and J/S. NO flames please.
1. The Goblin Expert

_**The Goblin Expert**_

"So who's this friend of yours?" Valkyrie Cain asked Tanith Low as they sat together on the former's bed. "And how is she supposed to get Skulduggery's head back for us?"

"You could always try asking me, you know" a smooth voice ventured. "But then again you remind me of me so it figures that you'd go about things the long way"

A tall black clad being with a hat that reminded Valkyrie horribly of Skulduggery's was lying on her bed watching them both through a pair of mirrored sunglasses. Valkyrie could feel the woman's eyes on her.

"Hey Only" Tanith smiled at the woman. "You're early"

"Can't do anything right can I?" the woman shrugged a smirk spreading across her lips. "It's been years Tanith, still riding that bike of yours?"

Tanith nodded. "Valkyrie Cain, allow me to introduce Only Forever, expert on all things Goblin"

Only didn't reply, instead she glared at the mirror, clicked her fingers and a heavy velvet curtain fell over it. "That's better"

"… the hell?" Both Valkyrie and Tanith exclaimed

"Mirrors are often far more than what seem" Only told them casually. "I had a bad feeling about that one"

She didn't elaborate and, as Tanith didn't appear to mind that Valkyrie supposed that it was standard behaviour.

"Now, ladies" Only sat up, smoothed the wrinkles out of her coat and doffed her hat revealing a lot of long dark hair. "What's all this about a stolen skull?"

Only listened as Valkyrie told her about how Skulduggery's skull was stolen by Goblins while he was 'sleeping'

"So if this skull was stolen years ago why are you only going after it now?"

So Valkyrie was forced to relate the tale of how her partner in crime had been sucked into the realm of the Faceless Ones. By the end of the story Only was smirking again, but because her eyes couldn't be seen Valkyrie had no idea as to why.

"So do you think you can help?" Tanith asked

"Yeah I _can_ help" Only nodded. "It's whether I _will_ or not that is in question"

Valkyrie growled.

"You are asking a lot of me. Give me a little time to decide whether my helping you will be worth a repeat of what happened last time I was around a lot of Goblins is worth it and I shall get back to you" Before Valkyrie could question the statement Only vanished, hat and all.

"Well that was new" Tanith shook her head

"She's never left so suddenly?"

"She's never done that to a mirror before. I met her when I was in Cardiff a few years back- she fell out of a mirror, into me"

"She broke the mirror?"

"No, I didn't say that." Tanith shook her head again. "She fell out of it- like your reflection does when you use it"

"So she's a reflection?" Valkyrie asked; thinking about how her own over used reflection didn't act like a normal one anymore since it was shot.

"No, she's a proper person- and a powerful sorceress; I'm just not sure what kind."

Valkyrie yawned, she hadn't realized how long it had been since she last slept- three days without sleep and now it was time to lie down.

"Call me when you wake up, ok Val?"

Valkyrie didn't reply, apart from a quiet mumbled something in her sleep.


	2. Going Underground

_**Going Underground**_

Valkyrie was woken by the insistent 'melody' of the ringtone of her work mobile.

"Ullo?" she muttered groggily.

"Val, you need to get to Tara ASAP" Tanith's voice sounded very loud in the sleepy teenager's ear. "Only's agreed to help us and told me she wants to rendezvous just outside Tara"

"Alright" Valkyrie mumbled, pushing her dark hair out of her face. "Gimme ten minutes- I've got to get dressed and I'll be right with you"

She ended the call, dressed, and finally she dialled Fletcher's number.

"Hey babe" Fletcher greeted her as standard- she hated this particular greeting; it had come about a week after Skulduggery's disappearance and she loathed it.

"Fletcher" she returned, wearily. "I need a favour"

"Anything for you baby" said Fletcher's voice from right behind her. "What do you need?"

Valkyrie only narrowly avoided attempting to break the teleporter's nose. "I need you to take me to Tara"

"Tara?"

"Yeah- small place; we were there looking for the Skull two weeks back- remember it?" Valkyrie deadpanned. "I need to get there in the next… ooh- five seconds"

"What's in it for me?"

"I won't throw fire at you if you take me?" Valkyrie offered

"Won't do it for less than a kiss" Fletcher smirked at her, cocking an eyebrow suggestively.

Valkyrie repressed a shudder. '_This is for Skulduggery_' she reminded herself. '_This is for Skulduggery_'

"You'd better be in trouble, Skeleton" she mumbled, starting forwards to press her lips against Fletcher's; she pulled back just milliseconds before the boy could deepen the kiss and crossed her arms. "Now Wrenn, you owe me one trip to Tara"

* * *

Only Forever rolled a crystal ball artfully across her hand- it was still hard after thirteen years not to look in on the family she'd left behind; but harder still was not caving into the desire to visit her friends- no, she'd made the choice that night to make a clean break especially since she wasn't entirely convinced of her own humanity anymore.

"Are you ok?" Tanith's voice pulled her away from the dangerous mental images of what might have been if she'd made a different choice when she was fifteen.

"I'm fine" she nodded. "Just thinking about my brother"

Tanith frowned and opened her mouth to speak, fortunately the conveniently timed appearance of Valkyrie and a tall boy who with messy hair.

"What took you so long?" Only asked, ignoring the stare of the boy- she had a strange effect on human men; had since she'd completed the Labyrinth

"My means of transport was being difficult" Valkyrie replied, elbowing the boy. "Are we going then?"

"One thing first" Only held out her hand. "Never liked Necromancers, leave the ring with pretty boy over there, and we'll be on our way"

She could see the girl's reluctance to part with the ring.

"Tanith told me you were an Elemental; that will suffice for where we're going" with a wave of her hand Only had the ring encased in a crystal which she then dissipated. "I'll give it back when our business is concluded; now, I've never done this with passengers before so be patient with me, give me your hand."

Once the three women were connected Only dropped the crystal she'd been juggling and they vanished, leaving a somewhat dazed and confused Fletcher Wrenn to wonder what had just happened.


	3. Return to the Underground

_**Return to the Labyrinth**_

"Where are we?" Valkyrie asked; she'd never seen a place like this before- there was something in the air which affected her in a strange way. Her elemental magic felt extra especially strong here.

"Somewhere I can safely say that you've never been before." Only replied, her lips curled, momentarily, up in a smirk. "This is the Underground- more specifically; not an hour away from the eastern edge of the Goblin Kingdom"

Valkyrie and Tanith looked at each other.

"Goblin Kingdom?" Valkyrie mouthed

Tanith shrugged.

"Coming ladies?" Only was a few meters away by this time. "I thought we were on a time limit here?"

As promised it was just short of an hour later when Only came to a stop- a singular smile curled her lips at one corner. She was looking out across a humongous maze with a castle at the centre.

"The Labyrinth…" she murmured, as if in a world of her own- her American accent became more pronounced. "It doesn't look that far…"

"Only?" Tanith frowned, concerned by her friend's behaviour. "Are you ok?"

Only started, she looked up at her over the top of her sunglasses, revealing a pair of murky green eyes. "Sorry… I was remembering the first time I was here"

"What happened?" Valkyrie asked.

"Later kid" Only waved her question away. "Time is short; and a-wasting- now, come on"

Only took off striding down the hill on which they stood, towards the wall of the labyrinth

* * *

The Goblin King started, almost jolted out of his chair by the strength of the presence that

had just entered his domain. There was someone in the Labyrinth. Would that he could summon a crystal to look in on the intruder, but since a certain mortal wench had broken his powers… all he could do was wait until young Jareth- sorry _Toby_- reached the castle- then _she'd_ be his.

* * *

Only hadn't known what to expect when she returned to the Underground but it certainly wasn't this- the Labyrinth had appeared far more chaotic than it had been when she'd beaten it as a fifteen year old. Her thoughts wondered to her dear old friends; would Hoggle be at his fairy spraying duties at the gates of the Labyrinth? Would dear brave little Didymus and his craven steed Ambrosias be standing guard over the Bog of Stench? Would Ludo be with them or had he wondered off on his own again?

Part of her wished that she had allowed herself to keep contact with them.

'_Keep it together Sarah, you can reminisce later_' she scolded herself.

She placed her hand on the wall of the Labyrinth and the gate was revealed. Only gasped.

"How did you do that?" Tanith demanded

"Even if I knew" Only retorted, more sharply than she meant to. "I wouldn't tell you, the Goblin King would have my guts for garters if he knew I was giving out secrets that have been kept for thousands of years"

'_Holy crap; where did that come from?_' she wondered

"Shall we press on?"

**_A/N: these first three chapters are written by _****_MyraValhallah_****_, whom first published this back in 11-06-10_**


	4. Beggining of the Maze

They passed through the gate into what appeared to be an alleyway. Valkyrie glance down the alley in both directions looking for an advisory. Then she stared down the path, going on forever in both directions.

"Only, how do we get through this," Tanith asked, staring up at top of the wall.

"First we find a blue worm wearing a red scarf." she responded as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

"Okay. How about this, which direction do we go?" Valkyrie asked.

"Don't go that way," Only said nodding to the right. "never go that way."

"Only, are you okay?" Tanith questioned, gently.

"Of course, it's just something a friend of mine said once." Only replied, walking down the passage to the left. A moment later Tanith and Valkyrie were following close behind.

Ten minutes later Valkyrie began to loose her patience. "Only, do you really know how to get through this. There are no turn or anything, it just goes on and on."

Only smiled and turned to her, "that was what I was waiting for."

"Ello." came a voice from the wall.

"Hello, my good worm." only said politely, turning to the small creature sitting on a ledge in the wall. It was indeed a worm wearing a blue scarf. "could you tell me the way to the castle beyond the goblin city?"

"I'm only a worm. Come in and have some tea with the misses."

"How do I get out of this passage, there are no corners, no doors, nothing."

"You don't use your eyes do you, there's one right there across the way." the worm nodded to the opposite wall of the alley.

"Thank you, next time I see you, I'll deliver a new scarf."

"Thank you kindly."

"You're welcome." only said, walking to the opposite wall, feeling for the gap. Smiling she waved for Valkyrie and Tanith to follow her before walking through the wall.

On the other side was not a maze of stones as she had faced all those years ago, but instead she walked right into a large hole. A hole that lead either to an oubliette or the bog of eternal stench. Figuring she knew the way out of either, she let herself drop. She heard the sharp intake of breath behind her as Valkyrie and Tanith fell through as well. Then the stench hit her. "Damn" she muttered. She threw out her arms to slow her descent. She shouted over her shoulder. "Ladies, you need to slow down a lot if you don't want to smell awful for the rest of time." After this warning she conjured a crystal and shattered it, transporting herself to a ledge near where Valkyrie and Tanith would come out.

The bog was the same as it had been thirteen years ago. She couldn't blame it for not getting changed, noone would willingly come here. Well noone except Sir Didymus. Looking around for the place where the bridge was, she found it maybe half a mile from where she was standing. Good, she didn't know hoe long she could stand this smell.

At that moment, Tanith and Valkyrie crawled out of the passage carefully, five feet from Only.

Valkyrie looked furious, and slightly green. "Why did we come here, it's horrible."

"I didn't bring us here, the labyrinth did. Now come, unless you want to spend more time here, I found the way out." She turned and walked quickly toward the place where the bridge used to be.


	5. The Bridge in the Bog

1Not five minutes later, they reached the place where a bridge had once stood, and stood again. "You two, go first. I need to see something quickly."

"Fine." Valkyrie said, starting to walk across the 'bridge', which was actually just a two by six by eight.

The moment her foot touched the wood, something launched itself in front of her. "None may pass without my permission." it said, brandishing a sword. The thing was a fox standing on its hind legs.

Valkyrie stepped back, surprised. Only almost laughed. "May we have your permission, Sir Didymus? This place hasn't gotten any better in thirteen years, has it?"

Didymus almost dropped his sword. "M'lady?"

"Yes, Didymus, it's me. May we have your permission to cross?"

"Of course m'lady. Will you be needed us again?"

"Us? Is that Hoggle and Ludo with you?" she said, kneeling to his level.

"Yes, M'lady. You see, after you left, well, the king went into a rage and made Hoggle the prince of the bog. My brother stays and helps when the bridge collapses."

"Thank you, Didymus, and I do need you, all of you." she said standing and turning in a circle, looking around them. They weren't surrounded as she expected. The only two there were a huge orange yeti, and a small, rather ugly dwarf wearing a dented crown. She grinned like she had after she defeated the labyrinth the first time, and she had called them to her bedroom for a celebration.

"Sawah." yelled the yeti, crushing her in a hug.

"Ludo, can't breathe." she gasped.

"Sowey." it said, releasing her, then hanging its head in shame.

"It's fine Ludo, you didn't do anything wrong." she said to it.

"Sarah, where have you been?" Asked the dwarf angrily.

"I'm sorry, prince Hoggle, I was planning on making a clean break, never coming back." she said, bowing jokingly.

"Why on earth not, m'lady?" Didymus asked.

"Him." was her only response. The three creatures seemed to understand.

"Only, who, and what, are these?" Valkyrie broke in.

"How dare you talk to her like that." the dwarf and fox said together, walking angrily toward her.

"Hoggle, Didymus, she's fine, leave her be. It is my fault for forgetting them in the moment. Ladies, these are dear, helpful friends of mine. The yeti, ludo, Prince Hoggle the dwarf, and sir Didymus, who's trusted steed is missing again. Guys, these are a couple people who had something important to them taken."

"What is it that you wished away and am trying to win back, m'ladies?" asked the knight, approaching more calmly.

"That's the thing." Tanith said, "we didn't wish it away. About twenty years ago a friend of ours was meditating, and these goblins came and took his head right off his spinal column. He didn't realize it was gone until the next morning. Now we need to get it back to get him back." she explained.

"Oh my, that is a problem. We should take you to the king, he may help you, but don't mention Lady Sarah here."

"Lady Sarah?" Valkyrie and Tanith asked together.

"My given name was Sarah Williams, after I left here I gain the ability to do magic and, well, left my family in America and ran away. My mother didn't approve of my childish interests in magic and such. And after this place, I wasn't even sure of my humanity." Only explained, letting her companions know her story. She then turned to her old friends, "why is he so angry at me, is it because I defeated the Labyrinth?"

"That's part of it, the other is that you didn't accept his marriage proposal, Sarah. Her offered you a throne by his side and you refused it." Said Hoggle. "He's an empty shell of his former self, he even lost his powers."

"What people didn't know was that the goblin king had fallen in love with the young girl..." she muttered then gasped, "then help me get there, please. Val, Tanith, we're going. Now." she said, walking away quickly.

Her friends all looked after her form, before Hoggle finally called "Sarah, that's the wrong direction. The castle beyond the goblin city is this direction."

"I should have known that." she said, turning and walking back toward them. "We're going now" she said, walking quickly across the makeshift bridge. Halfway to the other side, the wood gave out, falling into the foul smelling water below, Sarah grabbed on to a low hanging branch, and clung for dear life. "You don't like letting people cross that without falling in, do you?" she asked, angrily.

"I'm sorry, m'lady, but it's the same bridge as before." Didymus explained.

"That would explain it, now will someone please get me down." she requested.

Valkyrie turned to Tanith, "you got anything?" she asked.

Tanith shook her head, "no, I can walk on walls and open locks, but I'm mostly skilled in fighting."

Valkyrie sighed, "Only, if I displace the air and push you toward the opposite bank, can you land carefully enough not to injure yourself." she asked.

"Yes." she replied, letting go, and Valkyrie pushed her to the opposite bank. "Thanks, Val."

"Your welcome, but how are the others getting over there?"

"Ludo, could you please call the rocks to allow them to cross, please."

"Yes, sawah." said the yeti, who then started to howl. A minute later rocks rolled down the path into the foul smelling water, making stepping stones.

"And there you go, a walkway" Sarah said with a wave of her hand. "Now, come on, I have to go see the king." and she turned, without waiting for them, and hurried up the path, away from the bog and toward her king.


	6. Entering the Goblin City

Jareth knew that the people in the labyrinth below him were important, the goblins were all drinking more heavily than usual, and they were singing. In the thirteen years since she left he had stopped caring how it sounded.

Stranger still, the damn things were cleaning the castle. _Cleaning._ Goblin never clean anything, not even when he yells at them to clean up the chicken feathers from the floor. And some were muttering things about "Queenie" whatever that was.

They had made it to the junkyard of hopes and dreams. This was the place where Sarah had woken after the peach dream. There was no peach this time, but subconsciously she wished there was. She had made herself think that the reasoning behind her leaving had been that she had just wanted a clean break, but that wasn't all of it. She had been afraid of facing the goblin king after she had gotten Toby back. The truth was that she had also fallen for him as well.

While she had been lost in thought, she had lost track of the time she had been walking and was now at the doors to the goblin city. Her companions were right behind her. "Val, could you open these, please?"

The girl sighed again and stepped forward, displacing the arm forcefully and sending the doors wide. "Happy?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"Thank you." Sarah replied walking quickly through the two sets of doors, before the gate keeper could be woken.

The town within was filled with goblins. Goblins, which swarmed her as she walked into the city. "Queenie." they shouted.

"Hi guys, I'll come back to see you later, I have to take these people to see the king." she said extracting herself from them and continuing on. She turned and saw that Valkyrie and Tanith were staring at the goblins in horror. "Actually, can you guys do something for me. Keep those two out of trouble, maybe give the blonde some ale. Do whatever you like, just don't bog them." she whispered to a few of the closest goblins. They squealed happily and ran off, presumidly for a tankard for Tanith.

Only just rolled her eyes and continued on toward the castle beyond the goblin city. At the front door she was met by a pair of guards who, upon seeing her, bowed and muttered "queenie", then held the door open for her.

"Thank you." she said graciously, walking in. She was met by another goblin. "Excuse me, could you tell me the way to the throne room, please."

"It's the door at the end of this hall, miss." the goblin replied with a bow.

"Thank you." she said, curtsying back, before carrying on toward the throne room and an infuriated king.


End file.
